Product design by Liquid debuts at 2010 HouseWares Show.
In March, I attended the HouseWares Show in Chicago along with our our client, Slice, who was debuting a new logo, new booth, and a whole bunch of new products – including a new box cutter I co-designed with Scot Herbst. In terms of product design, this is a first for Liquid, and it was a very exciting event. Slice is a small company that makes a very cool set of products that cut, grate, chop…and, of course…slice. The product line includes peelers, graters, scissors, utility knives, kitchen knives, nail clippers..and now a box cutter. Liquid has been involved with Slice since the very start, when I helped design the product that launched the company – the iSlice – a simple one-sheet cutter with a very small ceramic blade. This product is still a best seller today, although it is now marketed as the “Safety Cutter”. From the beginning we’ve worked closely with TJ Scimone, a very dear friend, and the Founder / CEO of Slice. Over many breakfast meetings we worked together to defined the company’s brand strategy and business direction, and as the Brand Architect for Slice I have had the pleasure to be involved with every possible manifestation of the brand.
Most importantly, Liquid has helped develop relationships with some of the world’s most celebrated designers, including Karim Rashid, Michael Graves, and Yves Behar. We’ve also been instrumental in identifying fresh talent, like Scot Herbst – who is the man behind the popular Kaiku brand, and is now helping develop many of Slice’s new products. At the beginning, Liquid provided all of the design services necessary to launch the company, including the logo, packaging, literature and website. Today, Slice continues to grow at a rapid pace, and we remain integrally involved in every aspect of the brand’s evolution – with a great emphasis on product development – and as the Brand Architect for Slice, Alfredo Muccino provides high-level strategic and creative direction to a very diverse and very talented group of independent designers. For example, we worked on the packaging with Tom Crabtree, creative director of Manual in San Francisco (Tom designed the iPhone packaging at Apple) who collaborated with one of Liquid’s former Creative Directors, the very talented Joshua Swanbeck. They both put their considerable skills to work for Slice and revamped the entire packaging system as well as refining the Slice identity and creating new literature. We also tapped the talents of Jan Habraken, a multi-disciplinary designer originally from the Netherlands, now working in NY. Jan designed the new Slice booth – which got almost as much attention as the products. Good work, Jan!
The 2010 International HouseWares Show was a great success for Slice. According to Phil Brandl, president of the International Housewares Association, “We were encouraged by the significant increase in international buyer attendance this year as well as by the reports that U.S. retailers and senior executives were present in large numbers.” The Slice booth was visited by buyers from all over the world, including Japan, Korea, Australia, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Brazil and more. All of the visitors lauded the Slice brand for the quality of its product design as well as for the elegance of its presentation.
To much acclaim, Slice introduced a new Salt and Pepper Grinder by Karim Rashid – who showed up at our booth and helped introduce the new product. Slice also launched a complete set of personal care accessories by Michael Graves – the acclaimed architect who is also well-known for his product designs for Target and Alessi. Being able to introduce the Box Cutter that I designed along with Scott Herbst in such amazing company was quite an honor.
The Box Cutter uses ceramic blades that last 10X longer than traditional metal blades, while its unique shape offers a better grip and improved safety features. Without a question, the design of this product sets it apart from all other utility knifes on the market. We are currently at work on a number of new products and look forward to sharing them with you as soon as we make progress. In the meanwhile, please let us know what you think of the work we’re doing for Slice.We’d love to get your feedback…and any suggestions for new product extensions!!!
Liquid Agency wins 12 ADDY awards.
Liquid Agency took home 12 awards at this year’s ADDY Awards Gala, including two of the coveted ADDY Statuettes, representing work that was considered the best in its category. The ADDYs honor creative excellence by recognizing the best work of local agencies, as judged by a panel of peers. The party and awards ceremony was hosted by the Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Advertising Federation, on March 4 at the Marriott Hotel, downtown San Jose. This year’s party was smaller than in previous years – a reflection of the tough economic climate – yet the mood was festive, as it seems that Silicon Valley is starting to show signs of recovery.
Liquid Agency received a Best of Category ADDY award for the brand identity refresh we delivered for the Golden Gate Chapter of the Young President’s Organization – a global network of CEOs. The YPO GG Chapter includes mostly CEOs from the technology sector, so we created a visual style that reflects the dynamic and progressive nature of the members.
“We’re happy that the judges have selected to give us these awards,” said Alfredo Muccino, Chief Creative Officer of Liquid Agency. “We participate every year because we believe that it is important to play an active role in our local creative community – especially during times like these, when many clients have cut their budgets and agencies have struggled to survive.”
Once the awards ceremony had come to a close, we celebrated in true Liquid style with friends, family and some of the other agencies that participated in the competition. It was a night of camaraderie and friendship shared with many of the agencies that keep Silicon Valley a center of world-class creativity and innovation.
Below is a complete list of all the awards received by Liquid Agency:
ADDY Young Presidents Organization Branding
Gold ADDY Sezmi Packaging
Silver ADDY Microsoft Office for Mac Retail Merchandising
Silver ADDY Aviat Logo
Silver ADDY Aviat Website
Silver ADDY Adidas Motorsports Microsite
Silver ADDY Olive Advertising Campaign
Silver ADDY HP Advertising Campaign
Bronze ADDY Alex Logo / Brand Identity
Bronze ADDY Addison Avenue
Bronze ADDY HP Microsite
To see the all of projects that won at this year, as well as past awards and competitions, click here.
No commentsLiquid Agency’s industrial design work is honored by IDEA 2009.
We’ve definitely won our share of design awards over the years: Our work has been honored in many design competitions for projects that have included identity, packaging, publications, environments, retail merchandising, and interactive design. That said, we’re particularly proud of the recognition we received at the IDEA 2009 competition…and in this one we only achieved “finalist” status.
The IDEA awards program. For those of you who don’t know, the IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) program has been honoring design excellence since 1980 – and is considered one of the most prestigious design competitions in the world – recognizing design excellence in product design, ecodesign, interaction design, packaging, and concepts. Out of 1631 entries from countries all over the world, this year’s jury, an international cross-section of design leaders led by Andrew Hartman, Philips Design’s design director, selected 349 finalists.Liquid’s work was entered in the competition by our client – Olive – with whom we collaborated in the designed of two products, the Opus 4 and the Melody 2. Although we did not walk away with the top honors, we’re super excited about making the finalist list. After all, this is the very first time we’ve entered an industrial design competition…and the IDEA program is probably the toughest one in the world – so, being a finalist is something to brag about, especially when you consider that we were competing with companies like Samsung, Apple and HP – and that other finalists included Intel, NVIDIA, and Pioneer!
Liquid Agency has worked closely with Oliver Bergmann, Olive’s founder and CEO, to develop his company’s brand from the very beginning. Our involvement started with the design of the brand identity, the website, the packaging and the marketing materials…and has grown to include the industrial design and the user interface. With Liquid’s help, Olive has created products that achieve a harmonious balance between sound clarity and aesthetically striking design. As a consequence, Olive has developed a cult following among music enthusiasts and has earned the “Editor’s Choice” title from numerous national and international publications including Sound & Vision, Digital Trends, and PC Magazine. Olive’s products are frequently featured in magazines that range from Forbes to Wired, from RollingStone to Business Week.
“We’re proud to have played a part in Olive’s success,” said Alfredo Muccino, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Liquid Agency. “Olive’s role in the music industry has been to champion the quality of the music experience, and that has included paying attention to details in the form and function of the products, as well as the sound. We’ve appreciated being part of the design teams that have developed such amazing products. Being a finalist in IDEA 2009 is a great honor, and an affirmation that our dedication to excellent design is recognized at the very highest levels.”The Opus 4 can store up to 6,000 CDs worth of music – which you can enjoy in true hi-fi quality – a far cry from the compromised sound of MP3s. Essentially, Olive is committed to offering all the convenience of digital technology without compromising any of the sound quality – therefore delivering the best possible music experience. Made with heavy gauge aluminum that eliminates vibration and operating noise, the design of the Opus 4 includes a color touch screen located in a unique angled front which allows for better access and visibility. The top of the system features a distinctive silkscreened typographic pattern made of words representing a variety of musical genres, which adds an elegant detail to the already sophisticated form factor. The Melody 2 is a player that connects to the Opus 4 wirelessly extending the music experience to any room in the house, and its design language echoes that of the Opus 4. To take a peek at the winners of the IDEA competition and the other finalists, click here.
No commentsCan Neuromarketing Improve Campbell’s Soup?
By Marty Neumeier
In today’s Wall Street Journal (February 17, 2010), reporter Ilan Brat describes how Campbell’s is employing “neuromarketing” techniques to peel back the mysteries of label design. Using biometric tools such as eye-tracking, videotaping, and special vests that capture skin-moisture levels, heart rates, breathing patterns, and posture, researchers were able to compare the emotional responses of various consumers to the existing package line.
Among other things, they found that the Campbell’s logo, positioned against a red background on every package, made the varieties look so much alike that customers’ eyes glazed over when they scanned the offerings. They also found that the standard photo of a spoon lifting the soup from the bowl provoked zero emotional response. Finally, they heard from customers that the soup didn’t look warm enough.
The design response? Add color-coded bands at the top of each package to break the monotony; move the logo to the bottom; ditch the spoon; and add steam to the photo. Totally logical. Totally beautiful. Totally defensible. And totally inadequate. People don’t buy soup for the steam.
A 2005 analysis by Campbell’s showed that the usual techniques for testing advertising did little or nothing to improve sales, largely because they were asking people what they thought. Neuromarketing techniques, by contrast, are designed to measure what people feel. While this gets the company closer to understanding the actual drivers of shelf appeal, there’s only the tiniest of problems: it ignores the real reason people buy Campbell’s.
People buy Campbell’s not because of the steam but because they feel comfortable in the Campbell’s “tribe.” They simply believe that Campbell’s is the “right” product for them. And no amount of package tweaking will move the needle on that belief.
So what can Campbell’s do to improve sales? Improve the reasons to believe. Refocus the brand from the vision on out, then let the package designers express that vision with the skills they already have. When you find yourself using biometrics to test the emotional value of steam, you’ve already lost.
6 commentsSteal This Idea: Culture Quiz
Culture Quiz
By Marty Neumeier, author of The Designful Company
Transformation is in the air. Business leaders across industries are recognizing that “old school” management isn’t up to the task of nonstop innovation. As a result, companies that were once run from the top down are steadily shifting to a more networked style of management in which employees and customers play a greater role in driving innovation. Networked cultures tend to be more creative, more agile, and better able to anticipate the needs of customers.
How do you create a culture of innovation? By recognizing one simple fact: If you want to innovate, you’ve got to design. Design and design thinking are the tools that create new products, new services, new business models, new markets, and new industries. The best way to leverage innovation—as outlined in my latest book—is to build a “designful company”. (Buy the book.)
To find out where you are on the culture curve, take this simple test: Share a total of 10 points across each of the 10 pairs below. For example, if your company is more siloed than collaborative, you might score it 6 and 4. When you’ve finished, add up the two columns to measure your progress. If your totals come out to 60 and 40, for example, you could say that you’re 40% along the path to an innovative culture.
The Plastiki Expedition: An amazing adventure for a great cause.
During a meeting with HP we learned that they were involved with The Plastiki Expedition – and we hoped very much that we’d have an opportunity to work on the initiative. After all, this is about a nautical adventure and our name is Liquid! Lucky for us, a few weeks later we got the call, and we’ve not been able to get it off our minds since. In fact, I have been personally more excited about this project than anything else I’ve done in the last 20 years….and I’m not alone – our staff thinks this is a super cool project. It is really nice to have the whole studio inspired and energized.
What is the Plastiki Expedition?
Inspired by the famed 1947 Kon-tiki expedition, The Plastiki Expedition is a journey that will cross the Pacific to create awareness about the plastic mess that is polluting our oceans. The adventure is the brainchild of David de Rothschild, a dashing, easy-going Brit who has made it his life’s ambition to bring environmental issues to the surface, and inspire people to get involved and make a difference. David (and a small crew of adventurers, scientists and creatives) will sail from San Francisco to Sydney in a journey that will take around three months. By the way….David told us that he’s not ultimately interested in villifying plastics – instead, he’d rather inspire people to think about how we use, dispose, and reuse plastics – and develop positive solutions.
Sustainability floats this boat.
The Plastiki is a boat made out of reclaimed plastic bottles. The 60 ft. Catamaran was designed in collaboration with Architecture for Humanity and it’s made of a new material: srPET – which is essentially, ground-up plastics melted down and remade into a woven fabric, similar to carbon fiber (except that it can be melted down and re-made into the material again). The boat also features 12,500 actual soda bottles that are used for buoyancy. The masts are made out of reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipes. Even the ropes are made from recycled plastics.
Cool technology on board.
On board The Plastiki one finds lots of amazing technology: Our client – HP – is the official technology partner, and has provided all of the computer equipment that will be used for navigation, communication and scientific data collection and processing. And that’s just the start: There is a bird’s eye view camera capturing the activity on deck; a trailing turbine generating energy; solar panels harvesting the sun’s rays; wind turbines generating energy through wind power; a hydroponic garden where the crew can grow some of its food; and much more. The boat is a perfect example of the cross-section of technology and sustainability.
What’s Liquid’s role?
We’ve been asked to help evolve the current site in order to create a more dynamic and more valuable experience for site visitors. We’re exploring how to include dynamically updated content that will provide updates on all sorts of data collected during the voyage. Once the boat sets sail, visitors will be able to track its progress through Google Maps; take a look through the WebCam; check out the crew’s vital stats; and potentially experience the weather conditions through an augmented reality application. We’re also thinking about tracking energy generation though the built-in solar power units and the trailing turbine…and all sorts of other geeky stuff. Additionally, we’re exploring ways to leverage social media and allow people who are interested in the Plastiki’s adventures to chat with the crew, ask David some questions, and participate in on-going dialogues about how to make a difference.
What’s next?
We’ll share the work as soon as it gets launched…and in the case of The Plastiki, launch is meant quite literally. The boat currently set to launch from San Francisco towards the end of February 2010. We’ll keep you posted. In the meanwhile check out the site: www.theplastiki.com and follow the crew’s adventures. Also, if you want to get a closer look, you may want to visit the Plastiki Mission Control at Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco (next to the Musee Mecanique) …but, most importantly, remember to do your part and think about ways to reduce the amount of plastics that you and your family use, recycle as much as you can, and do not contribute to plastic garbage!
Liquid Agency is profiled in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
The Silicon Valley Business Journal is San Jose’s leading source of comprehensive business news and in-depth analysis….and we are very happy that this week they decided to feature Liquid Agency in the Small Business profile section. The article mentions a bit of our history and some of the work we’ve been doing for HP. In fact, the campaign we’ve been designing should launch next week in the highly anticipated “Person of the Year” issue – and will also appear on the online version in the form of a highly interactive digital campaign.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
For almost a decade, Silicon Valley technology companies have tapped Liquid Agency when they need help with branding, marketing and advertising, from setting up an eye-catching booth at a trade show to reaching out to consumers over Twitter. Its clients include HP, Microsoft, VMware and Intuit, as well as non-tech businesses such as Adidas. Liquid – its name refers to how a brand is “liquid” and ever changing — was founded by Scott Gardner and Alfredo Muccino. They started afresh after their previous firms were acquired during the dot-com bubble. Gardner was at Image Network and Muccino was at Muccino Design Group. They have since expanded by opening an office in Portland in June 2008, where they service Adidas and Microsoft among other clients. Most recently, in early November, Liquid merged with Marty Neumeier’s Neutron LLC, a digital think tank in San Francisco. Although not a large agency, it still manages to compete in the big leagues. Gardner, the CEO, said its clients reap the benefits of employing a high quality team and getting better access to the senior staff — at a lower cost than a large agency. “We’re one of the few agencies that has been really able to work consistently with the big brands on significant projects,” he said. “Those companies are coming to us and have faith that an independently owned, medium-size company can handle jobs that typically might go to a large global agency that are extremely expensive and, in some cases, extremely slow.”
You can read the entire article in the News section on our site….and don’t laugh at the picture!
Great design from our friends at WSDIA in NY.
WSDIA: A very talented group of people that take design seriously.
On a recent trip to New York I was introduced to a small, but very talented firm: WSDIA.According to their website: “Our name WeShouldDoItAll (WSDIA) is simply a goal. Designers and all other professionals alike should not feel constrained to some singular expertise. To survive our own creative game, it is imperative to know that there is not one absolute solution to a given problem. To immerse oneself within different avenues of creative production and mediums forces you to consider the otherwise unconsidered. It’s that method of working that’s exciting and motivating to look forward to the next transition.”
Nice people. Lots of talent. And plenty of ambition.
I was introduced to Jonathan Jackson & Sarah Nelson, two of the three principals at WSDIA, by my very good friend (and also very talented designer), Chris Vivion. In the course of my travels and my work I meet a lot of designers. Sometimes I meet people who are exceptionally talented…on occasion I meet folks who are really smart…and at times I meet designers who are very nice people - alas, they’re personality does not always match up to their work. Meeting Jonathan and Sarah was refreshing because they represented a combination of the best qualities I find in true designers: talent, curiosity, passion, intelligence and ambition. On top of all these great qualities, they struck me as unassuming, approachable, and extremely nice people. BTW: By “ambition” I don’t mean a drive to make a lot of money. No, no, no. I mean the ambition to keep pushing the limits, and the desire to do bigger, better, more interesting and more meaningful projects. That’s the kind of ambition that people that end up being really, really good must have. And the folks at WSDIA have plenty of it.
New Practices New York
Jonathan and Sarah shared with me several projects that I thought were really smart and exceptionally executed. I really enjoyed the New Practices New York exhibition design.
This project exemplifies the firms ability to create striking solutions that blend the aesthetics of architecture and graphics in a combination that is visually fresh and dimensionally interesting. I learned that WSDIA is made up of people that come from backgrounds that include architecture, graphics and fashion…which may explain why their work is so multifaceted. I love the physical nature of the signage and the attention to detail that went into the execution.
Young Guns Live
Another project I really liked is the Young Guns Live project for the Art Directors Club of New York.
For this assignment the team created a set that they photographed as the key visual for the marketing materials. The typography was created from brown fabric and stuffed with cotton (now named, ‘Gotham Stuffed’). The end result is whimsical and sophisticated…and although it is definitely avant-garde, it evokes a certain level of craftsmanship that is not all too often part of today’s design aesthetics…which is what makes it so special and fresh.I look forward to seeing what this talented team will be designing next. In the meanwhile, if you have any thoughts, please feel free to share them.
Thanks,
Alfredo Muccino
Chief Creative Officer
Liquid Agency
What do you think about the new AOL brand?
AOL turns into Aol.
The company that used to be called AOL, and was recently spun off from Time Warner, is shrinking in size in order to survive…and now its name and logo are shrinking as well. Perhaps as a reflection of its intention to cut about 2,500 jobs, AOL has changed the UC treatment of the acronym to one that includes an upper case “A” and lower case “ol”. And, in an attempt to communicate that the company is in the internet space, it is adding a “.” after its moniker. “AOL” is now “Aol.”
Brand identities need to be refreshed every so often. This can be motivated by the fact that, over time, design aesthetics change and it may be necessary to refresh a design that starts to feel dated. However, changing a brand identity can also be symbolic of a change in the company’s focus or structure, or a change in the marketplace situation. In the case of AOL (oops, Aol.), the change seems to be motivated by the changes in the company’s structure and a desire to re-introduce itself to its audiences.
Is “uniquely dynamic” the same as trite and playful?
According to Tim Armstrong, the company’s CEO, “Our new identity is uniquely dynamic. Our business is focused on creating world-class experiences for consumers and AOL is centered on creative and talented people - employees, partners, and advertisers. We have a clear strategy that we are passionate about and we plan on standing behind the AOL brand as we take the company into the next decade.”
The new look was created by Wolff Olins, the same firm that also designed the much maligned 2012 London Olympics logo, and most recently the fairly unpopular NYC logo. So far, the new Aol. identity is not being embraced with much affection. Take a look at a recent article in Fast Company or read the story on CNet .
I think the new Aol. is awkward.
In my opinion, the new identity may very well be “dynamic”, but it seems to be trying too hard to look young and energetic. The playfulness seems out of line with the announcements about layoffs, and the seriousness of Aol.’s financial situation. Changing the font to lower case is a simplistic attempt to look friendlier and more accessible…while at the same time, the lower case “l” looks like an upper case “I” (which is visually confusing). In fact, I think the whole thing looks a bot awkward…and I find that the addition of the “dot” is trite - while at the same time it poses all sorts of problems when writing out the name of the company in text form - AOL simply looks and works much better than Aol. (Wait…at the end of a sentence should I add another period after the dot?). And this commentary has not even begun to take into account the backgrounds from which the letters Aol. are reversed out. What is that pink cloud? Perhaps a bit of cotton candy? And, what is the green scribble? I find that the is dot hard to read in that version. Do you? BTW: In Italy the hand image stands for “cuckold”…I think that’s pretty funny.
I don’t like it. Do you?
OK…it’s obvious, I don’t care for the new Aol. identity. I’d love to hear what any of you think of the new logo? Is this what you would do to help AOL change the way that people think about the brand?
I’d love to hear your opinion.
Ciao!
Alfredo Muccino
Chief Creative Officer
Liquid Agency
The Design Thinking Lecture Series
Talking and Thinking about Design Thinking.
On Wednesday night I attended an event at the Thomson Reuters center in NY featuring Roger Martin, the dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto; Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO; and Will Setliff, VP of Strategy, Insights and Innovation at Target. The three panelists were joined by Bruce Nussbaum, from BusinessWeek – who helped moderate the conversation, often making it more interesting through humor and memorable anecdotes.
The conversation centered around the topic of “Design Thinking” - which is also the subject of a new book by Roger Martin, titled “The Design of Business”, and also another book by Tim Brown titled “Change by Design”. I have not yet read the books, but look forward to doing so, and I will share my thoughts about them. For those not familiar with the term, design thinking are the words used to describe a process that balances the exploration of new ideas with current knowledge to drive innovation and generate value for companies.
Here are a few insights from the panel discussion.
Today’s business practices are too “scientific”.
Some of the discussion hovered around the notion that today’s business models are “too scientific”, according to Mr. Martin, who suggested that the need to “prove in advance” the success of an idea makes it practically impossible to innovate. Companies that are driven by analytical thinking strive to create predictable results based on past experience and rigorous quantitative analysis. These companies typically fail to support the kind of innovation that – by definition – introduces whole new ways of solving existing challenges. Design thinking is advocated as the practice enabling business to strike a balance between analytical thinking and innovation – which, the panelists argued, is essential to create a sustainable competitive advantage
Design thinking has many challenges to overcome.
According to the panelists, design thinking is already embraced by innovative companies (like Apple, Google, Target, Toyota, etc.) however these companies are the outliers in corporate America. Part of this is due to the fact that design thinking is not what is taught at most universities, and the tens of thousands of MBAs that enter the business sector annually are trained to use analytical thinking and scrutinize data to arrive at decisions….ultimately killing ideas that could make a big difference if they were explored further before being dismissed because they are “unproven”. Mr. Martin reminded the audience that if Steve Jobs had run Apple as an analytical company, such innovations as the iPod and iPhone would have never seen the light of day.
The current business climate is another challenge – as many companies will choose to “re-trench” instead of “re-think” - and according to the panelists this creates opportunities for those companies willing to apply design thinking to explore new, innovative processes, products, markets, distribution channels, etc.,
We need to question the question.
One of the most interesting topics of the evening was posed by Tim Brown, who suggested that not enough emphasis is placed on the question that initiates the design process. Being a designer, Tim has been trained to start with a “brief” - a document that outlines the objectives, audiences, requirements, etc. Designers are often handed the brief as a way to begin the design exploration. Tim not only suggested that designers should write the brief instead of the client, but should question the intent and need that necessitated the brief to begin with….he referred to it as the need to “question the question”. These comments made me think about the fact that we are in fact trained to strive for the answer…and perhaps generating more questions will lead to more interesting ideas.
Where does design thinking start?
Mr. Nussbaum asked “where and how do we start incorporating design thinking into a business?”. Will Setliff of Target said that it is important to find what he called the “locus” or central place where to start incorporating design thinking into a company. He said that it is important to change processes and not just products and services. Target of course, is a company that has become synonymous with design and innovation – and this is true not just in terms of the products they sell or how they operate their stores, but how they run their business. One example that Will shared with the audience is that at Target they take new hires and immediately put them through a process designed to reinvigorate their sense of creativity and set aside some of the stuff they learned in business school. This indoctrination into design thinking can be very impactful and invigorating for many of the business people – who, according to the panelists – often will resist going back to the old analytical approaches. Personally, I think that change must be championed at the top – and I am willing to bet that most organizations that embrace design thinking are led by CEOs who are visionary, independent thinkers who cherish innovation and who constantly challenge the status quo.
What does this mean for agencies like ours?
Creative agencies are typically started by designers – people who are trained to solve problems using a process that includes defining the problem, exploring a variety of different solutions, prototyping, testing, and adjusting to ensure that the final result solves the problem in an innovative manner. However, most agencies have not been very innovative in designing their own businesses. Most agencies have become victims of the pressures placed upon them by corporate America and as a result they don’t “question the question” - to borrow Tim Brown’s terminology – and they churn out advertising that is uninspired (both in terms of the creative or the media that is being used), branding programs that are developed in silos (packaging teams don’t talk to digital teams) and use processes that seem a bit antiquated (brand platforms that assume the company owns the brand in a world when consumers shape brands more than ever). It is time for agencies to re-think their business models. I feel that Liquid is in this category…however, we are painfully aware of it, and are hard at work, changing what we do and how we do it. That is one of the reasons for the merger with Neutron, and one of the benefits of having Marty Neumeier on our executive team. He’s constantly challenging us to think ahead of the curve and focus on innovative solutions.
Thanks for the inspiration to make some changes.
I left the conference rejuvenated and inspired. I would like to thank Roger Martin, Tim Brown, Will Setliff and Bruce Nussbaum for delivering an engaging and stimulating discussion. I also would like to thank Sandra Blevins of the Brand Collaborative for inviting me to attend. I returned to my hotel room with my head buzzing with ideas, anxious to work on the transformation that will help us deliver better work for our clients and create a better firm for all that work at Liquid. As I’ve said before….expect big changes.
